Kobach’s “completely unnecessary” campaign stunt

A recent act by Kris Kobach left me puzzled.
On June 2, during the Old Shawnee (Kan.) Days Parade, the Kansas secretary of state and Republican gubernatorial candidate rode in a jeep with a large replica gun mounted on it. “What was going through his mind?” I wondered afterward. “How was this ever considered a good idea? Why didn’t his advisors stop him?”
Unsurprisingly, Kobach’s actions prompted heavy criticism on social media and throughout the nation. Pastor Johnny Lewis of Shawnee Community Christian Church was among those who criticized Kobach. In a Facebook post, Lewis suggested that the candidate’s stunt troubled his 6-year-old child, saying his child “worries constantly about school shootings.”
“Why was that necessary, sir?” Lewis asked Kobach rhetorically. “My child didn’t need that today. Don’t care what your position is on (the) Second Amendment (to the U.S. Constitution). That is completely unnecessary.”
Still, Kobach refused to apologize. On the contrary, Kobach defended himself by posting the following statement on Twitter: “Had a blast riding in the Old Shawnee Days Parade in this souped-up jeep with a replica gun. Those who want to restrict the right to keep and bear arms are deeply misguided. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”
The whole act was, in my opinion, designed to feed into the emotions of Republican voters. This is clear when one considers how the Kobach bragged about the reaction to his appearance on Monday (June 4) in a fund-raising email.
“Within seconds of the parade being over, liberals started losing their minds…. But the fact is, the only reason why these ‘tolerant’ left snowflakes get so upset over even the sight of me is because they know I will not back down in my defense of the Second Amendment,” he wrote.
Clearly, Kobach will do what he thinks it takes to get elected, even if that means parading atop a vehicle with a fake gun pointed at hundreds of children in attendance – an act that was, to quote Pastor Lewis, “completely unnecessary.”